About the film
Unexpected tragedy brings an African-American widower face-to-face with his estranged mother-in-law in rural Maine.
Five Nights in Maine
— BY Maris Curran
status
Completed
type
Fiction
year
2015
director
Maris Curran
producers
Maris Curran, Carly Hugo, David Oyelowo, Matt Parker
Synopsis
Sherwin is a good man, flawed like any other, but deeply invested in his family and in love with his wife, Fiona. When she returns from visiting her estranged and ill mother and acts distant, he shows concern. Their conversations lead to fights, the worst in their marriage. Fiona no longer sees herself as a mother; she does not want children. Sherwin is confused and angry. The life they have built begins to break down. And before there can be resolution, Fiona dies, in an auto accident after driving distractedly on the freeway. Sherwin is devastated. All that is dear to him – his wife, his sense of self and his future, vanish. In the middle of his grief, Sherwin receives a phone call from the person he least expects, Fiona’s mother. She invites him to visit her in rural Maine, saying: “it might do us both some good.” Sherwin decides to go to Maine, and embarks on an unlikely journey of healing, compassion and empathy.
About the team
Maris Curran (Writer/Director/Producer)’s Five Nights in Maine participated in IFP’s No Borders International Coproduction Market, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and was selected as one of ten international projects to develop at the Cine Qua Non Writers Lab in Mexico. She has exhibited her short films and videos internationally at galleries and film festivals and works as a commercial Producer, producing documentaries, music videos and broadcast spots. Maris uses film to delve into the drama of the everyday, to tell stories that take on challenging issues such as race, disability, illness and sexuality. She graduated from Smith College, the Whitney Independent Study Program and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she received a Princess Grace Award for her thesis film.
Five Nights in Maine is a Cinereach grantee.